Renegade Therapies, Founder

.. were centered around issues that came as a result of an absent father in my day to day life and overall lack of forgiveness and understanding. This manifested as an absolute rebellion from all authority accompanied by multiple cardiac arrests from chronic asthma and panic attacks. Between the hospital stays, ambulance rides, life flights, and stays in the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center, I feel as though I had an amazingly memorable and beautiful childhood…surprisingly enough.

I was raised by a single mother, who despite her lack of ability to know what to do with such a rebellious young mind, gave me unconditional love that was enough to sustain me.

MY PERSONAL APPROACH TO WORKING WITH YOUTH

My career started in clinical massage therapy. I graduated in 2008 when I was 21 years old from a 1400 hour program in Vancouver, Washington and later moved my practice to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida to start a family and raise kids with the love of my life from my youth. In the 15 years since then, I have been involved in, experienced, and witnessed some of the most astounding healing when working hands-on with people. All of which came from the high-level of trust that was established and shared between myself and my clients. As the years went on, my hourly rate grew higher and I began to price out a lot of people who were unable to afford my services. This was a blessing for my ability to provide for my rapidly growing family (now five beautiful children) but it was hard on my soul which began to ache for getting my services to those who could benefit from my gifts the most. This meant returning to my homeland of the Pacific Northwest.

With my wife aching for four seasons and the mountains, and myself requiring more sunshine after a decade of being spoiled by living in the sunshine state, we decided on Central Oregon where the sun seems to shine all year around and the seasons change beautifully for my wifes sake. So, here we are. And this is where the work began.

With the closing of my practice in Florida, and being in a new territory free of the heavy client load, my time was now freed up to do what's been on my heart for a long time. My mission is to spend my time and bring my experiences and education into serving the highly rebellious youth of whom I can relate to and impact the most, and to grow an extensive network of trusted holistic services and providers that the youth can access based on an undeniable trust with the community. I believe the most effective way of building trust with a community, comes from actually being a legitimately trustworthy person (shocker, I know) and by doing the actual work needed to make a positive impact. 

Hence, the birth of Renegade Therapies in June of 2022.

MY PERSONAL BELIEFS

My mother instilled in me an powerful idea at a very young age. An idea that there was a father in heaven, that always loved me, would never leave me, and that I could talk to anytime I needed help. This idea ultimately gave way to the practices of prayer and the notion of having a highly personal relationship with this force. This was the extent that Christian beliefs were laid on my young mind, and being that they were never forced upon me, I never felt the need to rebel from them. This allowed me to grow that relationship over time into what it is today, which is an undeniable belief in God and a purpose to serve the way Jesus did to the best of my ability.

This personal belief has not been sustained without its doubts and heavy questioning, but from what I’ve found, when it comes to believing in something… this belief has been the most sustainable force for my mental and spiritual health and has remained, despite all doubts, the most rock solid force in my life to which I gladly and often times hestitantly, fall to my knees for.

With that being said, let me be clear...

This is not a religious organization, nor does it seek to preach the gospel and save the souls of our youth. My intention here, is simply to do the work of lifting up the most needy among us based on their individual needs and help others do the same.

If at any point when working with the youth or their parents they ask me what I personally believe and why… I will gladly tell the story of my experience, but that is the extent of how my personal spiritual beliefs bleed over into this organization. Beyond that, If any youth I work with continues to show interest in the gospel or spiritual belief systems of any kind, then they will be referred out to the nearest trusted Religious Youth Services Program in their area that is either within their families tradition, or within their preference. And here in Central Oregon there are many to choose from, and I seeking and growing solid relationships with their staff and founders.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your support!

-Joel Mitchell, Founder, LMT 

OR Lic #26920